Stream flow valve actuator



Nov. 4, 1947, HoRNBosTEL 2,430,175 STREAM FLOW VALVE ACTUATOR I FiledMayz, 1942 2 she'efsfsheet 1 L oro Hoen/305751.

Nov. 4, 19.47.

L. HORNBOSTEL STREAM FLOW' VALVE ACTUATOR 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed May 25,1942 FE-.Fz-L DF Loro Hoeyaosrsz..

Patented Nov. 4, 1947 UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE.

STREAM FLOW VALVE Ac'rns'ron consin Application May 25, 1942, Serial No.444,333

This invention relates to a valve for controlling the flow of a streamthrough a conduit without producing eddy currents, dead spots, andunevenness in the owing stream.

Specifically the invention relates to a valve for controlling streams ofpaper stock, white water, and the like liquid suspensions withoutsetting up a churning action in the stream and without creating pocketsWhere lumps or bundles of the suspended materials can collect.

While the valves of this invention are especially adapted for thecontrol of flowing streams of paper stock and white water which must behandled in a paper mill, and will be hereinafter specifically describedin connection with such usage, it should be understood that the valvesare capable of controlling the flow of any fluid through a conduit, andthat the invention is not limited to any particular use of the valve.

'In accordance with this invention, aligned spaced opposed conduits suchas pipes are equipped with internal spiders carrying bushings or bearingsleeves at the axial centers of the conduits. A valve casing isinterposed between the conduits to connect the same. This casing has ahollow bulbous intermediate portion. A plug preferably streamlined forsmooth uid ow therearound is disposed in the casing and is supported onshafts which are slidably mounted in the bushings or |bearings of theconduit carried spiders. The casing has an interior annular valve seatadapted to receive the plug thereagainst so that uid flow through thecasing and between the conduits can be completely stopped. However, whenthe plug is moved away from the casing seat, an annular passageway isprovided between the exterior surface of the plug and the interiorsurface of the bulbous portion of the casing. This annular passageway isshaped for smooth iiuid flow.

One of the conduits is preferably in the form of an elbow and one of theshafts from the plug projects through a wall of the elbow. Theprojecting end of the shaft is threaded. A gear held against axialmovement along the shaft is threaded onto the shaft, and this gear isadapted to be driven for moving the threaded portion into and out of theconduit and thereby moving the plug toward and away from its seat tovary the throttling effect of the valve on fluid flowing through theconduits and casing.

The interiors of the conduits and casing, and the exterior of the plugare preferably covered with an inert material such as rubber so that theassembly can handle corrosive fluids.

2 Claims. (Cl. 192-142) It is, then, an object of this invention toprovide a valve for controlling flow of fluid through a conduit withoutinterfering with a smooth iiow of the fluid.

A further object of the invention is to provide a valve having alongitudinally shiftable plug mounted in the center of a stream flowingthrough the valve for varying the capacity of a passageway through whichthe stream must iiow and thereby controlling the iiow of` the streamwithout disturbing smooth stream flow conditions.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a valve having astationary casing and a longitudinally shiftable plug in the casing forvarying the fluid ilow capacity of the casing in accordance with theposition of the plug.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stream flow valve forconnecting spaced opposed conduits for controlling the flow of fluidbetween the conduits.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the following detailed descriptions of theannexed. sheets of drawings which, by way of preferred example,illustrate one embodiment of the invention.

In Figures 1 to 3 inclusive the reference numeral ill designatesgenerally a valve .casing having cylindrical end portions lila, and ll'bjoined by an intermediate 'hollow bulbous portion lc. The cylindricalend portions lila. and lb have outturned flanges Il and I2 respectivelyat their outer ends. Conduits I3 and Hi are connected to the ends of thecasing I!! so as to be in Ifull fluid flow communication with thecasing. The

conduit I3 has an outturned flange l5 bolted to` the flange H while theconduit I4 has an outturned flange i6 bolted to the flange l2. Theconduit ifi is preferably formed as an elbow pipe with another flange Ilat the other end thereof for attachment to a pipe line or other conduitfitting.

The conduits I3 and I4 have internal spiders I8y and I9 respectivelyadjacent the cylindrical portions lila and Ib of the casing. Thesespiders I8 and I9 have hubs l8a and |90, providing bearings for slidablyreceiving shafts 28 and 2l projecting from the ends of a plug valve 22.

The plug 22 is composed of a body 23 of varying circular cross sectionand having a leading end 23a tapering into the shaft 2i) so as to dividea stream of stock flowing from the conduit I3 into the casing I with aslittle agitation as possible. This leading end 23a flares along aconcave diverging path to a cylindrical band 24 having a bead 25therearound. The body then converges along a tear-drop shaped path tothe shaft 2l.

The bulbous portion Ic of the casing is larger than the body 23 of theplug so as to provide an annular passageway 26 around the plug joiningthe cylindrical ends Illa and 10b of the casing as best shown in Figure3. Howeventhe bead portion 25 of the plug is adapted to seat against anannular seat provided at the junction point between the cylindricalportion Id and the bulbous portion lIlc of the casing as shown in Figure2, thereby sealing the flow of liquid between the conduits I3 and M. Aninternal annular seat IGd is thus provided for the bead 25 on the plug.

As shown in Figures l and 2, the shaft 2l has a threaded end portion 2Iaprojecting through the wall of the elbow I4, A packing boss Ila can beintegrally formed on the elbow to house packing material 26 forpreventing leakage out of the elbow around the threaded portion 2id,This boss can have a leg portion lib as shown in Figure l extendingtherefrom and from the elbow to provide a support for an electric inotor21. Another leg portion Mc extends from the boss Ilia for supportinglimit switches 28 and 29 thereon.

A gear support 3i] is bolted onto the boss hid and has spaced bossportions 3l and 32 receiving the shaft end Zia freely therethrough. Asleeve 33 is threaded on the shaft end Zia between the bosses 3l and 32and a. bevel gear 34 is-integral with or axed to this sleeve portion.The support 30 also has an end boss 35 receiving a drive shaft 36 fromthe motor 2l. A bevel gear 3'! is secured on the end of the shaft andmeshes with the gear Sli.

A keyway 35 is cut in the threaded end 2in; of the shaft 2l and extendsinwardly from the free end of the shaft for an appreciable distance asshown in dotted lines in Figure 2. The boss 32 of the gear support 32has a pin 36 projecting into the keyway 35 so that the shaft 2| is heldiagainst rotation but can move in an axial direc` ion.

A washer or collar disk 37 is bolted onto the free end of the shaft bymeans of a bolt 33 tapped axially into the shaft end. This collar orwasher 3! is in the path of the operating levers 28a and 29a of thelimit switches 28 and 29,

The motor 2T is preferably a reversible motor or a reversing gearassembly (not shown) can be included in the drive to the shaft S. Whenthe motor 2'! is driven in one direction the sleeve 33 will be rotatedand by virtue of its screw thread relation with the shaft portion 21a,the plug will be shifted longitudinally in one direction. If the motorhas been driven in a direction, for example, to shift the plug to closedposition, the motor will continue to operate until the collar 3S strikesthe lever 28a of the limit switch whereupon the motor will stop. Thevalve will then be in fully closed position as shown in Figure 2. If themotor is reversed the reverse rotation of the sleeve 33 will effectshifting of the plug to open position as shown in Figure 3 and, when thecollar 3? strikes against the operating lever 29a of the limit switch 29as shown in dotted lines in Figure l, the motor will again stop and thevalve will be in fully opened position.

The motor or other prime mover of course can be operated to stop theplug at any intermediate position between fully opened and fully closedpositions so as to throttle the flow of liquid through the casing. Itwill be noted from Figures 2 and 3 that, as the beaded portion 25 of theplug moves away from the valve seat Illb, the flow capacity of thepassageway 25 decreases because a portion of the passageway throughwhich the stock must flow will have a decreased area.

The entire interior of the casing E@ can be lined with a rubber lining39. This lining 39 can be vulcanized to the metal casing and willprotect the casing against corrosion. The valve seat i iid can thereforebe a rubber scat. Likewise, the interior surfaces of the conduits i3 andlli including the exterior surfaces of the spiders cf these conduits canbe lined with and covered with rubber 4G and 4I respectively.

The free end of the shaft 20, as shown in Figure 2, can be tapered to apoint 20a so as to pierce the stream and start the dividing action ofthe stream in order that the same will smoothly flow around the plug 22.

,As shown in Figure 4, the spider I8 has relatively thin legs so as todecrease any eddy current effect produced by obstructions in a flowingstream. The legs of the spider I9 may be similarly formed.

From the above descriptions it will therefore be understood that thevalve of this invention includes a longitudinally shiftable plug mountedin a casing in such a manner as to define, with the casing, a passagewayfor the smooth flow of liquids around the plugr and through the casing.The plug can be shifted to engage an interior valve seat in the casingfor closing the valve.

The shifting mechanism for the plug includes a driving device forrotation of a. sleeve which is threaded onto a supporting shaft for theplug, While two supporting shafts have been described it is obvious thata single shaft can project through the plug body 23 so as to slidethrough both spider bearings I8a, and I9a.

The mechanism for shifting the plug in the casing includes a devicewhich will prevent rotation of the plug.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of the inventionmay be varied through a wide range without departing from the principlesof this invention and it is, therefore, not lthe purpose to limit thepatent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the'appended claims. Y

I claim as my invention:

l. In a valve construction, a casing with an elbow portion, avalve-actuating shaft extending through a wall of the elbow portion, agear threaded on said shaft, a yoke support carried by said elbowportion receiving the shaft therethrough and providing thrust surfacesfor holding the gear against axial movement on the shaft, a key betweenthe support and shaft for holding the shaft yagainst rotation,reversible means for driving said gear to non-rotatably' move the shaftin opposite axial directions, and a pair of spaced limit switches in thepath of axial movement of said shaft for stopping said reversible meanswhenever the shaft reaches predetermined positions.

2. In a valve construction, a casing member having an elbow portion, avalve-actuating shaft slidably mounted in said elbow portion and havinga threaded end projecting through the elbow portion, a support mountedon said elbow receiv- 1 ing a threaded portion of the shaft freelytherethrough, a sleeve threaded on said shaft and held against axialmovement by said support, key and slot means between the support andshaftrfor holding the shaft against rotation, a reversible driving motormounted on said support, a gear on said sleeve, a pinion driven by saidmotor meshing with said gear whereby said shaft is moved axially by saidmotor, laterally projecting means xedly mounted on the end of saidshaft, and a pair of toggle switches mounted on said support havingspaced switch arms adapted to be selectively operated by said laterallyextending means on said shaft as said shaft moves axially, said switchescontrolling said motor to automatically limit the extent of movement ofsaid shaft.

LLOYD HORNBOSTEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 20,471 Kelty Aug. 17, 1937531,985 Wagner Jan. 1,1895 679,518 Skirrow July 30, 1901 887,253 JacksonMay v12, 1908 932,028 Koenig Aug. 24, 1909 1,018,127 Olson Feb. 20,19121,290,722 Doble Jan. 7,1919 1,508,138 Foote Sept. 9, 1924 1,567,995Kimball Dec. 29, 1925 1,822,970 Johnson Sept. 15, 1931 2,247,562 SantenJuly 1, 1941 2,318,814 Strong May 11, 1943 2,366,739 McCoy Jan. 9, 1945FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 62,832 `Australia 1914

